Public Art Project in City Market
Featuring the work of Wake County Alternative School Students
Visual Art Exchange (VAE) Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11-4 p.m.
325 Blake Street
www.visualartexchange.org
Raleigh, NC 27601
919.828.7834
Project Unveiling: First Friday, May 4, 6-9 p.m. in City Market in downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square Art District
Residency Dates: April 9-20, 2007
For more information contact:
Sarah Powers, Director, VAE: 919.828.7834 or sarah@visualartexchange.org
Scott Renk, Teacher, Mary Phillips High School: 919.606.7649 or scottrenk@mac.com
Visual Art Exchange (VAE) is pleased to announce the start of new art education project and intensive artist residency program for two Wake County Alternative Schools. VAE is working with students from Raleigh’s Mary Phillips High School (MPHS) and Longview High and Middle School and Raleigh artist Andre Leon Gray to create murals on trash bins for City Market in downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square Art District. The project will be unveiled to the community during May’s First Friday Gallery Walk, May 4, 6-9 p.m.
The students will work with Andre Leon Gray to paint on Plexiglas panels that will be installed throughout City Market. These murals will be displayed in the neighborhood and will allow the students to contribute to their community in a positive way. Using Wake County Public School System Character Education traits of courage, good judgment, integrity, kindness, perseverance, respect, responsibility, and self-discipline, the students participating in this project will learn how another culture represents these traits symbolically. Students will be exposed to the Adinkra stamping tradition of the West African country of Ghana, receiving a fresh approach in learning character development, and will integrate Adinkra symbols to the traits they aspire to maintain in a public art installation.
Students will also include a self-portrait of themselves on the panels, using the art form of the silhouette. Wake County School Superintendent Del Burns will have his silhouette done by students from Mary Phillips High School on April 16, 2007.
Robin Foster, the art teacher at the Long View School says “This project allows the students of Longview to have a unique and positive connection with the community as well as help make the City Market a vibrant and exciting destination for the citizens and visitors of the city of Raleigh.
VAE has targeted Wake County’s Alternative Schools because of the significant need these students have for curriculum enrichment, particularly in the arts. Students at these schools are at-risk and under-privileged and present the most severe emotional and behavioral disabilities of the more than 125,000 students in Wake County. Longview students are 88% male, 12% female; 69% African American, 25% Caucasian and 6% Multi-racial. They range in age from 11 to 18. About two-thirds of the students at Longview are under the supervision of the Juvenile Court and two-thirds are involved with the mental health system; one-third is involved with both the court and mental health system. Students at Mary Phillips High School are 29% Male and 71% Female; 6% Hispanic, 85% African American, 5% Caucasian and 3% Multi-Racial 3% and range in age from 14-21. These schools are a final opportunity for many at-risk students to complete their education.
This program aligns with VAE’s mission to foster the advancement of all visual artists, particularly emerging. The project will give opportunities to the artists, students and to the community who will enjoy the finished product and will emphasize learning in, through and about the arts. The project has received support from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County Arts in Education grant program, The City of Raleigh Arts Commission, Silicon Valley Bank Foundation, Quintiles Transnational Corporation’s Quintiles Gives Back Fund, The Louise Reynolds Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation, Askew Taylor Art Paint and Art Supplies and is hosted by City Market Properties.
Visual Art Exchange (VAE) is the oldest, private, non-profit, visual arts organization in Raleigh. Formerly Wake Visual Arts, VAE has been operating for 27 years. It was the first art gallery to operate in downtown Raleigh and is a past recipient of the prestigious Raleigh Medal of Arts Award. VAE has an integral place in the art community in Raleigh and is a key cultural offering in the City Market neighborhood and Moore Square Arts District. VAE is dedicated to providing opportunities to emerging artists and enriching the cultural environment of the community through its exhibitions and programs.
Visual Art Exchange (VAE) Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11-4 p.m.
325 Blake Street
www.visualartexchange.org
Raleigh, NC 27601
919.828.7834
Project Unveiling: First Friday, May 4, 6-9 p.m. in City Market in downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square Art District
Residency Dates: April 9-20, 2007
For more information contact:
Sarah Powers, Director, VAE: 919.828.7834 or sarah@visualartexchange.org
Scott Renk, Teacher, Mary Phillips High School: 919.606.7649 or scottrenk@mac.com
Visual Art Exchange (VAE) is pleased to announce the start of new art education project and intensive artist residency program for two Wake County Alternative Schools. VAE is working with students from Raleigh’s Mary Phillips High School (MPHS) and Longview High and Middle School and Raleigh artist Andre Leon Gray to create murals on trash bins for City Market in downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square Art District. The project will be unveiled to the community during May’s First Friday Gallery Walk, May 4, 6-9 p.m.
The students will work with Andre Leon Gray to paint on Plexiglas panels that will be installed throughout City Market. These murals will be displayed in the neighborhood and will allow the students to contribute to their community in a positive way. Using Wake County Public School System Character Education traits of courage, good judgment, integrity, kindness, perseverance, respect, responsibility, and self-discipline, the students participating in this project will learn how another culture represents these traits symbolically. Students will be exposed to the Adinkra stamping tradition of the West African country of Ghana, receiving a fresh approach in learning character development, and will integrate Adinkra symbols to the traits they aspire to maintain in a public art installation.
Students will also include a self-portrait of themselves on the panels, using the art form of the silhouette. Wake County School Superintendent Del Burns will have his silhouette done by students from Mary Phillips High School on April 16, 2007.
Robin Foster, the art teacher at the Long View School says “This project allows the students of Longview to have a unique and positive connection with the community as well as help make the City Market a vibrant and exciting destination for the citizens and visitors of the city of Raleigh.
VAE has targeted Wake County’s Alternative Schools because of the significant need these students have for curriculum enrichment, particularly in the arts. Students at these schools are at-risk and under-privileged and present the most severe emotional and behavioral disabilities of the more than 125,000 students in Wake County. Longview students are 88% male, 12% female; 69% African American, 25% Caucasian and 6% Multi-racial. They range in age from 11 to 18. About two-thirds of the students at Longview are under the supervision of the Juvenile Court and two-thirds are involved with the mental health system; one-third is involved with both the court and mental health system. Students at Mary Phillips High School are 29% Male and 71% Female; 6% Hispanic, 85% African American, 5% Caucasian and 3% Multi-Racial 3% and range in age from 14-21. These schools are a final opportunity for many at-risk students to complete their education.
This program aligns with VAE’s mission to foster the advancement of all visual artists, particularly emerging. The project will give opportunities to the artists, students and to the community who will enjoy the finished product and will emphasize learning in, through and about the arts. The project has received support from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County Arts in Education grant program, The City of Raleigh Arts Commission, Silicon Valley Bank Foundation, Quintiles Transnational Corporation’s Quintiles Gives Back Fund, The Louise Reynolds Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation, Askew Taylor Art Paint and Art Supplies and is hosted by City Market Properties.
Visual Art Exchange (VAE) is the oldest, private, non-profit, visual arts organization in Raleigh. Formerly Wake Visual Arts, VAE has been operating for 27 years. It was the first art gallery to operate in downtown Raleigh and is a past recipient of the prestigious Raleigh Medal of Arts Award. VAE has an integral place in the art community in Raleigh and is a key cultural offering in the City Market neighborhood and Moore Square Arts District. VAE is dedicated to providing opportunities to emerging artists and enriching the cultural environment of the community through its exhibitions and programs.